Our Past and Future Self
by UpHisSleevies
Summary: (Taking place during the Eclipse Arc) There was no hope for this corrupted future as 10,000 dragons demolished the human race with ease. Only one celestial spirt mage had the potential to change the future and save her friends by opening the Eclipse gate into the past. But what would become of a certain pink-haired dragon slayer if he managed to follow her through the gate?
1. Chapter 1

Full Summary: _(Taking place during the plight of the Eclipse Arc) The country that was plagued by an army of over 10,000 dragons burned to the ground and was reduced to useless rubble. There was no hope for this corrupted future as the dragons demolished the human race with ease._

 _Only one celestial spirt mage had the potential to change the future and save her friends by opening the Eclipse gate into the past. Everyone's fate rested on her shoulders now. But what would become of a certain pink-haired dragon slayer if he managed to follow her through the gate. (A what if scenario of what could have happened if future Natsu got involved)_

July 7, X791

The fire dragon slayer collapsed out of the Eclipse door into the secret underground room of the King's palace that Colonel Arcadios had showed him just a few days earlier. The palace walls were still intact and the terrified cries of soldiers were no longer pounding in his ears, meaning he successfully traveled through time. To which point in time exactly, Natsu had no idea. The real issue was the fact that Lucy was no where to be seen. She used her magic to open the gate while many of the dragons were distracted by how juicy Fiore's reinforcements tasted. Even if Lucy was unaware of the fact that he had followed her into the past while the door was still open, he was only a few minutes behind her. She wouldn't have gotten too far ahead of him so he should've at least still been able to pick up her scent. There was always the possibility that Lucy was sent back further in time while the gate had less power drained. It's not like Natsu knew how this time travel contraption worked anyway, and frankly, he could care less. His first and foremost priority at the moment was to find Lucy. They could figure out how to stop the dragons together from there.

Natsu frantically raced through the maze-like halls of the castle as the emptiness of it made him start to panic. He remembered coming across hoards of Royal Army soldiers when he and his friends tried to escape last time. This time, however, not a single one appeared, making him believe that everyone was outside and that there was less time than he initially thought.

He was finally able to trace the smell of smoke that lead him into a hallway towards the entrance of the castle. There were large gapping holes in the walls and pieces of destroyed columns across the floor that definitely marked the signs of a battle taking place here. The smoke that still dissipated through the air and the freshly charred interior of the room felt as though a fiery explosion had passed through it. This type of collateral damage kinda reminded him of… _himself._

Natsu heard a woman's voice echo through the spacious room as he continued to get closer to the source.

"Don't let anger get the best of you."

"I'm not," said someone with a raspy voice similar to his own. "Future Rogue took the wrong path at some point. That's not the present Rogue. He did nothing wrong. If we kill him, we'll be the ones ta-"

He stopped and turned his head when he noticed the unexpected presence in the room. The presence made itself known by stepping out of the shadows and meeting the stare of who could be none other himself; the Natsu of the past. Confusion and shock were written on everyone's face with their wide eyes and jaws agape. The thick silence was suddenly broken when both Natsus shot up at each other with stars in their eyes.

"NO WAAAY! There's actually TWO OF ME! Think of all the pranks we can do now!" Future Natsu yelled excitedly.

"YEAH! Oh! Oh! Let's scare people! Lucy will totally freak out for sure! It'll be hilarious!" the other Natsu hyped as he imagined everyone fainting at the sheer sight of two Natsus.

"No wait! Let's challenge Erza to a fight! There's no way she can defeat both of us!" he countered back as a scene of Erza cowering in fear from his doubled strength played out in his head. "HAHA I'M FIRED UP NOW!"

"EXCUSE ME!"

Their fantasies were short lived as Ultear finally snapped them out of their ridiculous little world. "Have you forgotten that Rogue is still out there right now and we have no idea what he's up to?!"

Present Natsu turned toward her and addressed her with a cocky, yet more serious tone, "No problem. This Natsu came from the future to help us just like Lucy did, right? And now that there's two of me, kicking Rouge's ass will be even easier."

"Why would I want to fight Rouge?" Future Natsu replied with arms crossed over his chest and a look of confusion on his face. "W-Wait a second! You already met the Lucy from my time? Where is she? I need to..."

He paused when the smell of blood suddenly caught his attention. _Lucy's blood_.

It led his eyes to the unmoving heap of a body lying on the floor only a couple yards away from him. A wave of horror and dread suddenly took over his features. His muscles tensed, his breathing halted, and his whole body felt as if it had been cryogenically frozen. He couldn't get his body to move, it refused to let him take even a step. He was just too afraid to see the truth with his own eyes. Ultear, Meredy, and Present Natsu remained silent. They avoided eye contact with him when he turned to them for answers, but the pity and sorrow clearly present in their eyes was unmistakable.

After several long moments trapped in his horror stricken state, he finally willed his body to move closer to the crumpled body.

"Lucy...?"

 _A flashback suddenly engrossed his thoughts. The dragon slayer remembered the battle between himself and the thousands of dragons that painted the sky with their fiery breath. He was not prepared for the chaos awaiting him outside after escaping the collapsing prison cell. Everything had been destroyed or burned to ash within days. The people of Crocus, the guards, the buildings, his friends…all gone. For the sake of keeping his own sanity, he made himself believe that the guild retreated to somewhere safe and tried desperately not to think of the much worse possibility. It was just him surrounded by the dragons and landscape engulfed in flames. Why did he let himself get separated from Happy and the others? Fighting without Happy was a huge disadvantage for him._

 _He fought and searched for hours, or maybe even days. It was hard to tell, who could keep track of time when the sky refused to change from anything but colors of hellish red? He hadn't exhausted his magic power yet thanks to massive wild fires all around him, but the constant feeling of isolation was finally starting to take its toll on the dragon slayer._

 _He was beginning to lose the will to fight._

 _What was the point? He couldn't even defeat one dragon, let alone 10,000 of them all by himself. Yet before he could let the dragons overwhelm him, he spotted something that turned his world right side up._

 _There stood Lucy, crying in the center of all the devastation while watching the stone walls of Mercurius come crumbling down from the brute force of the dragons._

 _"No… where are you? Please… I need you! …Natsu…" he heard her choke out through her sobs._

 _And just like that, he was there with her in an instant. He jumped in front of her as a huge explosion of dragon fire headed straight in her direction. He sucked up every little bit of it with his dragon slayer abilities._

 _"Sorry I'm late, Lucy." He said while giving the dragon a vengeful glare. Like hell he was going to let this one go when it almost incinerated Lucy. "Cocky bastards."_

 _"Natsu!" He heard her say as he jumped right back into battle._

 _It didn't take long for the battle to wear down on him physically more and more. Even while using Dragon Force, he could only keep fighting consistently for so long. Lucy had run to his aid several times. She let him sling an arm around her and lean on her body for support._

 _The fact that Lucy was still alive and breathing was enough to give him hope in an utterly hopeless situation. The fact that she was still there for him, by his side, gave him the desire to keep fighting, and vise versa. He knew if he were to give up and back down, he would lose Lucy forever. And if he lost Lucy, he would lose everything._

 _.._

 _His mind hazily picked up Lucy scream his name as blackness eventually obstructed his vision and his brain shut down. As he continued to slip in and out of consciousness, he could vaguely make out Lucy opening what appeared to be the Eclipse door. Even in his exhausted and delirious state, she never left his thoughts._

 _"Lucy… stay safe."_

 _..._

Natsu was ripped out of his flashback to be brought back to the sight of Lucy's body sprawled across the marble stone floor. He kneeled down beside Lucy and leaned over her body to inspect her. Why couldn't he feel any magic energy coming from her? Why wasn't she moving? Or breathing?

 _It's not like she is… I mean, there's no way. I wouldn't actually let this happen… I couldn't…_ he thought to himself, but his ignorance was doing a poor job of convincing the logically side of his brain.

 _She's really…THIS ISN'T FUCKING HAPPENING!_

 _()()_

Author's Note: Just letting you know that the next part is coming out: within the foreseeable future, where things get a lot more heated! Get it? Y'know, cuz Natsu and fire. Anyway, this is my first story and I'm still getting use to the layout, but feel free to review if you want to.


	2. Chapter 2

**A N: I probably should've just waited and posted both parts at the same time as a oneshot, but I knew this part would take a while since I had no idea how to start it. This was actually really hard to write. I hope constantly having to switch dialog between two different Natsus doesn't get too confusing. I know if it was in the perspective of one of them it would fix this problem, but I really don't like writing in first person. ^^**

* * *

 _Natsu._

The dry blood stain that had leaked from her mouth does not lie.

 _I believe in you._

Neither does the gaping stab wound exposed on her midsection through the ripped cloak.

 _I always have ever since I first joined the guild._

It was unbelievable how much trust she had in him. She could always put her own life in his hands so easily and not give it a second thought. He knew she was naïve and vulnerable sometimes, but that was okay because he would always be there to protect her. So then why was he staring at a Lucy who was beyond saving? He would've never even considered it a possibility until now. His thoughts became so lost in the fog of denial that he failed to notice the tears streaming down his face, or the quivering of his lips.

The dragon slayer leaned over her more as his shaky fingertips slowly ghosted over her pale cheeks before delicately caressing her face with the faintest of touches. Her skin was so cold he was afraid she might crumble to pieces from under him if he wasn't careful. When despair finally slammed down on him, he lifted the blonde into his lap, held her in his arms, and buried his face in her hair. What was the point of being here anymore?

The Natsu who had witnessed Lucy's death ripped his gaze away from the floor and stared at his future self with a look of guilt and pity. He couldn't imagine the weight of his heartache. He at least still had the Lucy of this timeline to continue a happy, adventure-filled life with. Any future this Natsu would've had with Lucy is completely gone now.

"Listen…" He tentatively took a step closer to his future self. He knew if he were in this situation, he would want an explanation. The time traveler didn't acknowledge him or move from his positon as Present Natsu walked up close and stood behind the man whose body trembled vigorously. He slowly lifted his hand to his shoulder ready to console. "I-"

"YOU BASTARD!"

Flames around his fists suddenly burst to life and firmly connected with his jaw. Present Natsu stumbled back momentarily before widening his stance defensively as his future self took another blind swing of rage at him. The violent shaking of his body had increased tenfold.

"SHE TRUSTED YOU!"

"Listen to me! You're not thinking clearly right now!" He yelled while dodging another punch aimed for his face. Anyone from a mile away could tell that the fire mage had lost control, letting his body be completely consumed and overtaken by fury. Everyone knows that when he loses his temper, even for pointless things, he will shut off his brain and let his body do the talking. He is sure to inevitably destroy everything unfortunate enough to be in the danger zone, which is why Ultear and Meredy were long gone by this point.

"SHE CAME TO YOU FOR HELP! TO SAVE _YOUR_ FUTURE!"

Feeling his own anger rising, Present Natsu scowled back at him and raised his fists going onto the offense. "You don't even know what happened! You weren't there!"

"Neither were you, apparently! And none of that matters, you WERE there and you LET IT HAPPEN!" His barrage of fire punches became even more violent and uncontainable. "You can't even protect our own nakama, AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD?!"

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed once again and they both became silent. The stare Natsu gave his future self was one only few enemies have ever seen. It was deadly, intense, and blood thirsty. It looked as though he had every intention to kill and maim. What started as just the need to lash out was now about to turn into something much more serious. They stood feet apart, never breaking eye contact, waiting for the other to initiate the fight. They were both completely and utterly worn out from their previous fights to the point where it was hard just to stay standing. It didn't matter, though. Not right now.

Only a few more moments of silence lingered in the air before both Natsus suddenly erupted in fire at the same time and lunged at each other.

"FIRE DRAGON'S…"

"…IRON FIST!" they shouted in unison.

Future Natsu was only a split second faster and his flaming punch meant for his past self connected with his face as intended while the other punch meant for the time travel missed completely. Though his punch barely did anything as the Present Natsu used his hands and feet to stop his backward momentum before he could crash into a wall. He immediately retaliated by jumping up to send a flaming kick.

"You were the one who wasn't there! She was all by herself, lost and terrified for days trying to come up with a plan!"

Future Natsu faltered. "...D-Days? It couldn't have been; I was right behind her." He blocked the kick with his forearms. "That's not my fault, I don't know how that stupid door works! Don't you DARE pin this on me!" The dragon slayer landed a roundhouse kick on the time traveler that flew him back and made him collide into a column. He immediately sprang up as if nothing had happened. "FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!"

The waves of fire lashed out at other dragon slayer from across the room that forcefully whipped him back and sent him flying. He slowly climbed back to his feet with fresh scars and bruises covering his body.

"And you're the one who let everything get fucked up! Lucy shouldn't have needed to travel to the past in the first place!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY! YOU WOULD HAVE LET THE SAME THING HAPPEN!"

"That's _it! I'M_ _ENDING THIS!_

FIRE DRAGON'S-"

"FIRE DRAGON'S-"

"-ROOOAR!"

The massive fires combining together from their onslaught reciprocated with an immense explosion that doubled in size and acted as if a bomb just went off in the room. It caused the two dragon slayers to be sent flying backwards in opposite directions. Neither of them could move after taking damage from that monstrosity of an attack. Their muscles ached and cried out for rest. They lied on the floor in silence with nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing occupying the room. They stayed there while letting their anger and hatred leave the air that had been suffocating them only moments ago.

"…."

"…"

"...why are we even arguing, we're the same person. It's pretty stupid if you think about it."

"Yeah." Future Natsu tilted his head slightly from his place on the floor to look at his past self. "What kind of idiot fights with himself anyway?" He chuckled half heartedly.

"Who said anything would've changed if our situations were switched." Present Natsu pushed himself into a sitting positon but didn't meet his eye contact. "I'm sorry…I wasn't fast enough to stop this. It looks like neither of us made it in time."

He glanced back at the woman who had given him way more than just a friendship. She gave him her kindness, her trust, her fears, her care, her closeness. She gave him a team. She gave him memories that will always be treasured. She gave him an unbreakable life-long bond.

Lucy Heartfilia is, and always will be, irreplaceable.

The Natsu of the present time stood up with newfound determination. "I can't waste anymore time here. I made a promise to Lucy, which means I still got a future to save."

"Guess blaming each other won't fix anything, huh?" He stood up as well and loudly cracked his knuckles. "Alright then, take me to the bastard who did this to Lucy and I'll help you burn him into nothin' but a crisp. Sound good?"

"Aye!"

They both grinned and nodded before dashing towards the exit. The present Natsu stopped momentarily to give one last look over his shoulder to Lucy, when something distressing dawned on him.

If anything, her lifeless body was a grim reminder. He realized that no matter how many times they may have narrowly escaped death in battle, she wasn't indestructible, and neither was anyone else in the guild. Though if there was anything that was certain, it was that this will _not_ happen again. Natsu will make sure of it.

 _Lucy._

 _Once this is all over, I will get stronger._

 _And I will protect our future._

 _That's a promise._

* * *

 **End. Thank you for reading!**


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